


Freakshow

by insominia



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Recreational Drug Use, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:27:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9946088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insominia/pseuds/insominia
Summary: A series of fluffy one shots feat. Hancock and F!SS





	1. The Vault

**Author's Note:**

> A series of ficlets feat. Hancock/F!SS. They're not in any particular order, but there's probably a vague chronology. Some of them might refer or relate to others, but I'm aiming for them to be stand alone.

She hadn't wanted to go back there. Not really. It was bad enough knowing that the vault - and Nate - lay so close to Sanctuary Hills, without actually going back there.  
But...this was an emergency. Short of dismantling the furniture, they'd run out of parts to repair the turrets that had shorted out. They'd exhausted Red Rocket and the traders wouldn't be back that way for another day or so. And if the mutants decided to return, which Danse insisted would be the case, there was just one option; the vault. Unless she wanted to leg it over to Tenpines, hope they had spares and make it back before the mutants did. 

Nora was sitting on the little balcony she'd built onto her shack, staring at her old home. She couldn't bear to move back into it. Not after everything that had happened, and now as she contemplated returning to where she had left her old life, she felt like she'd made the right choice.

"You know, I'm sure Garvey wouldn't mind scavving the parts, if you wanted to stay behind," Hancock's reassuring rasp came from beside her. Nora glanced over at him; she didn't know how long he had been waiting there but it didn't surprise her that he had known exactly what she'd been thinking, even though she hadn't voiced her plan, or doubts, to anyone. 

"It's ok," she said, so quietly, she might not have spoken. Vault 111 was her vault. It might seem strange to feel possessive over a place she barely had any right or inclination to consider hers, but Nate was there. Along with friends and neighbours, people she still remembered and mourned. Garvey wouldn't understand. Hancock did, even though she didn't need to say anything more than, 'it's ok.'

He went with her, of course. She'd thought about going on her own, but she was glad of the company. He picked his way through the skeleton littered vault with barely glance. But he saw everything - especially the way these long dead remains affected her in a way he'd never seen before. Even those who died by her own hand rarely gave her pause these days, though she was hardly a killing machine before the war. 

They found the parts they needed fairly quickly, even if it was a case of just emptying every toolkit into their packs. When it came to leave, Nora hesitated. She didn't exactly want to see Nate, but there was something distasteful about being so close to him and not at least saying hello. 

Nate lay, still frozen, in the place where they'd shot him. The bullet wound still gaped open, flecks of frozen blood spattered around the pod. For the longest time she just stared at him, the guy who had once been her husband. When Hancock caught up with her, she was still staring, though she looked as though she wasn't really seeing anything. 

"Hey," he called, uncharacteristically softly, "look, if you wanna get out of here..." 

His voice at least interrupted her reverie and with the smallest of smiles, she passed him. Hancock remained for just a moment, his black eyes resting on the frozen body of the man who came before him. It would have been easy to torture himself comparing those perfectly chiselled features, death notwithstanding, to his own, far less attractive visage. But the woman who meant so much to them both had looked so lost, so stricken, when she had passed him, it really didn't take much for Hancock to bury those rising feelings of inadequacies and follow her out, clasping her hand at the earliest opportunity. She looked up at him, and the smile she gave was weak at best, but she squeezed his hand, tightly, nonetheless. 

Nora didn't say anything when they got back to Sanctuary. The turrets were repaired in silence, and when the mutants returned, justifying both the trip and Danse's warnings, she joined the fight without a word. Dusk found her back on the balcony, staring without seeing, at what had once been her family home.  
The metallic click and hiss of Hancock cracking open two beers seemed unnaturally loud to the quiet of her thoughts and she jumped in fright. She felt the low rumble of Hancock's chuckle as he sat on the couch beside her. She took the beer wordlessly, and for a while the sun set in silence before them.

"Do you miss him?" Hancock asked, eventually, unable to keep the unmistakable sigh from escaping. 

The silence stretched between them, before she responded, evenly, and not the way he had expected, "no." The word hung between them, but she continued, giving form to the thoughts she had been trying to marshall since they'd left the vault. "Sounds awful, huh? I've been thinking about it all day. When we saw him earlier...it's like...pain from another world. That life..." she waved her hand over the settlement, "it's like nothing I have now. And Nate never shared this. Any of it. So no, I don't miss him. I don't even think about that life much anymore, he wasn't a part of what my life is now," she nestled her head onto Hancock's chest, "not like you. I'd miss you, so don't you go getting yourself shot." She chuckled, weakly. 

He paused for a moment. He had prepared himself for a rather different conversation. When he breathed out, it was a breath he hadn't realised he was holding, and with it left a weight he hadn't realised he was carrying. He shifted his weight to better comfort her, and though she didn't see it, he smiled into her hair. 

"I guess, it just feels weird having him so close, like that," she whispered, but Hancock was already turning her face towards him to kiss her.


	2. An Empethatic Ghoul

Hancock had known what he was going to do ever since their brief and unexpected trip to her vault. He just needed her to be away from Sanctuary Hills for a while. When an emergency call came in from Oberland Station and she decided Dogmeat needed a bit more exercise than hunting stray mongrels, he spied his opportunity.

She was barely a dot on the horizon when he found Valentine and explained his plan. Nick had listened carefully before giving a long, low whistle through his teeth - if he had them. "Well...I'm not saying it's not a good idea. But...just the two of us? By sundown? I don't think it's gonna happen."

Which is how Paladin Danse ended up joining them, jokes about putting Hancock in a pit notwithstanding. Assuming they were jokes.

Hancock was no stranger to hard graft, but even he had to admit the work was gruelling, and far more grisly than he had expected. Danse remained up top, near the vault entrance, digging. It was surprising how quickly the man managed to dig as many graves as he did in such a short space of time. At the last minute Hancock bit off asking him how he had acquired such a unique skill.

Nick stuck with Hancock, releasing and carrying the bodies from the vault to the surface. Nick had been right, the bodies still frozen solid as they were - were far heavier than Hancock had anticipated, and awkwardly immovable. Then, when they finally brought the last one - Nate himself - above ground, Hancock was dismayed to find that Danse had failed to bury a single one of them. Though he was more dismayed when Danse informed him that the bodies had to thaw first, before they could be lowered into the graves.

Hancock had brought along a few beers for the occasion, but Nick shrugged it off and Danse had merely glared at him, so he ended up downing the three on his own. If Nick wasn't with him, he'd have probably exchanged the beer for something stronger just to to make being around Danse and the corpses bearable.

Mercifully, it was still light when they turned their attention to the burials. Danse had actually picked out a decent spot, though Hancock didn't know if it was intentional or incidental, and he wasn't about to ask. Either way - the former residents of Sanctuary Hills were finally laid to rest on a grassy hill, overlooking the bustling community that had once belonged to them. Once again, Nate was last. Hancock slung his body, as gently as these things could be done, into the last hole. Danse was already there with a shovel, but it felt wrong to not do... _something_.

In his pocket was a folded American flag. Hancock and Nora had found it in the remains of her old house. Nora had expressed surprise that it had even survived - a memento of a life long gone, and service to a country that no longer existed. Hancock cleared his throat awkwardly, painfully aware of Danse's unfriendly eyes on him.

"So...uh...I guess you should have this," Hancock muttered, laying the flag on Nate's unresponsive chest. He didn't have to look up to see Danse and Nick exchange looks of surprise. For a moment Hancock felt he should say a few words. Nora would have appreciated that, even though he couldn't think of anything to say. Was it weird to say a few words over the long dead body of your two hundred year old girlfriend's husband? This would have been easier with some Mentats.

"I'll take care of her now," he said, eventually, and he and Danse made short work of shovelling the dirt over him; a healthy smattering of cement ensured he wouldn't be discovered by mole rats or worse. That's what Danse said at least, again Hancock didn't question him.

By the time they trudged back to Sanctuary, Hancock felt aches in muscles he hadn't even known he had. Even Nick was longing for the oil canisters back at the shack. Danse hadn't said a word, but Hancock could have sworn he was holding himself a little stiffer than usual. He dropped Nick and Danse at the shack the various strays Nora picked up, shared while she was elsewhere. He thanked them, even Danse, but the Paladin didn't soften, "I didn't do this for you,” he snapped, but Hancock was past caring. He all but dragged himself to Nora's shack, swiftly divesting himself of his clothes and dropping like a stone into the hot bath, with every intention of not emerging until he'd become a mirelurk.

The water was far too hot, but the novelty of a hot bath was too much to pass up these days. He was still there when Nora returned, equally dusty, Dogmeat obediently following at her heels. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were shining. She was in his arms before he could say anything, paying no attention to the lukewarm water that splashed all over her. Despite the tears, he could feel her smiling and muffled against his neck he heard her whisper, "thank you."

 

 


	3. Stars

From the moment one of the farm girls announced she was pregnant, Nora was acutely aware of everyone treating her with kid gloves. Every time the girl passed, her not inconsiderable bump preceding her, Nora could not fail to notice how her companion, whoever they happened to be that day, would stare at her; as though, after all she had endured, it would be this - the sight of another woman pregnant, that would break her. It didn't bother her that they stared, in fact it was a little reassuring to see how much they cared. Except when Hancock did it. She thought he would have known better. Instead he went oddly quiet at any mention of Sanctuary's first new arrival. 

He at least helped Nora refurbish her old house, setting it up for the little family. At one point she had paused, standing over Shaun's crib, which had survived the war better than her family had. It was fitting that the first baby in Sanctuary should have it. She caught Hancock staring at her from the doorway. She had no idea how long he had been there, the expression in his face unreadable, but worrying. He looked lost.   
She had never seen him look like that before.  
When she caught up with him later, he was on a merry trip and she couldn't get any sense out of him anyway. 

The baby was born - a gorgeous baby girl, cute even by baby standards. Nora visited often, not for any other reason than it was nice to do so. The memory of those early days with Shaun were still relatively fresh, despite everything. The loneliness, the hardships, the guilty longing that someone would come and just take the baby for a moment, so she could use the bathroom without hearing screams. It took a village to raise a baby, and Sanctuary was already a pretty good village. 

The first time she visited, Nick came with her. She held the baby, cooed over her, complimented the parents, smiled at the new arrival and then marvelled as Nick did the same, but with considerably more skill. "What, you think this is the first diaper I've changed?" he asked, chuckling at everyone's surprise. After they had left, they had sat together on a bench, watching the sunset and Nick had asked, "hey there...you ok?" 

She thought for a moment, mulling over the implications of the question, and then turned a smile on Nick that left him no doubt of how she felt, "yeah. Yeah I'm fine." 

Even though she was ok, it was rare she ever visited her old home without company. Piper was indifferent to the baby, though she at least acknowledged she was, 'cute.' Cait got annoyed they were even there in the first place, and usually disappeared to the bar soon after. MacCready surprised them all by jumping right in and showing them how good a father he must have been to Duncan. Of course Danse was as adorably uncomfortable as Nora had imagined him to be. As for Hancock, he just didn't come. 

At first she didn't notice it, but he usually found some excuse to be somewhere else if Nora was visiting them, even for the swiftest of food drops. But in such a small place it was going to happen and one day Nora found herself checking the mutfruit plants, the baby wrapped to her chest, seemingly listening to every word she had to say about farming practices in irradiated soil. She noticed Hancock checking over a nearby water pump, but he'd paused to watch her. She smiled at him, but he didn't seem to notice. 

"Hey," she called, "you ok?"

"Hm?" he came back from his reverie with a bump, "oh, yeah. Sure." He hesitated, "y'know...you're really good at that." Nora beamed at him and went back to the mutfruit, but when she looked up again, he was gone. 

This time when she found him, Hancock was more than just high. He'd crashed out on the sofa on her balcony, a combination of psycho and buffout littered around the place - much harder stuff than he usually hit up these days, and he rarely mixed his chems. He was lying on the sofa, staring at the stars, his eyes a million miles away. "Tha- institute bastard, never knew what he missed, "he said, without looking at her, his voice as distant as the stars above him. "You'd make a great mom."

Nora stared for a moment, unsure how to react. "Nothing I can do 'bout it," there was a slight slur to his words, "don't know of any ghouls what managed to breed." 

She was struck by a sudden series of memories; Hancock holding Billy close, threatening the raider that wanted to buy him. Hancock patting the boy, reassuring him that everything was going to be ok. Hancock making a bottle cap appear behind the ear of one of the farm boys on Nordhagen farm. 

"Did you...did you want kids?" she asked, softly, dropping down next to him, but he didn't seem to notice. She didn't know if he really knew she was there at all. 

"Nah...who would I have had kids with? What kid would want a coward like me for a father? What kind of woman would want to have a kid with me in the first place? That's what I used to think anyway. All changed when I met you. Think now I could be someone to be proud of...Not gonna happen though. Guess you backed the wrong brahmin there." 

He trailed off and for a moment Nora mulled over his words. Shaun had been so young there hadn't really been any chance to talk of another, and then when she woke up - well, she hadn't had a chance to think beyond surviving the day. Children weren't even the last thing on her mind - they weren't even a consideration. 

Hoisting herself up onto the sofa too, Nora squeezed up against him, covering his hand with her own and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're all I want. You're enough for me. I don't want anything more than you can give me." 

Beside her, Hancock flinched and turned to her, his eyes trying, and failing to focus, "well hello there beautiful, couldn't stay away huh?"

She chuckled and snuggled closer to him, hoping that there wouldn't be a radiation storm over night.

There wasn't a storm. In fact it was a calm night all told. But when the sun rose it was blinding, and even with her eyes closed Nora flung her arm up over them to protect her. Hancock wasn't beside her, though she hadn't noticed him get up. 

At some point she rolled off the sofa and stumbled down the stairs, back into shade, but she froze on the last step. 

Walking around the shack was Hancock, apparently none the worse for wear after his trip, in his arms - a rather contented baby girl. 

"Hey there," he called, gently, "hope you don't mind, but I woke up early, and someone," he nudged the girl with his nose gap, "was giving her folks a hard time." He looked up expectantly at Nora, still stunned on the stair, "hope that's ok?" The baby stirred in his arms and let out a thin cry. Hancock frowned, "now why you gotta go breaking my heart like that?" He glanced back up at Nora, but she was positively beaming, he couldn't remember her ever looking so happy. Hancock shrugged and turned to comfort the baby. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened last night; there'd been a baby? Maybe? Nora had told him she loved him and he'd woken up feeling better than ever. Though he couldn't figure out why they hadn't made it as far as the bed.


	4. A Dance

MacCready downed the last of his beer in a swift movement and replaced the bottle on the bar. It was late, real late, even by his standards. The Third Rail's regulars had long since cleared off for the night, the bar was all but empty. He glanced up in time to see Hancock dip Nora and raise her back up for another turn about the dance floor. Charlie was already drifting towards him to get him another. MacCready hesitated, "should...should one of us tell them?"

There was a hiss and a clink, unnaturally loud in the unusually quiet bar, as Charlie laid out another beer. "Be my guest," he said, in a tone that suggested he didn't much care either way. MacCready sighed, lifting the beer heavily; drinking it seemed like a chore.   
He could always leave, the boss wouldn't notice, he glanced up again, her face was resting against Hancock's shoulder as they turned on the spot, it didn't seem like she'd notice much of anything right now. 

Watching the mayor and his boss waltz around the floor, it occurred to him that he'd never actually seen anyone dance for so long while Mags was singing, let alone a good half hour after she'd clocked off. He figured one of them might have noticed that the music had stopped. 

He the low rumble of Hancock's voice, and Nora's laugh. Nobody laughed like that anymore. MacCready looked up to see Hancock's hand possessively over the small of her back and Nora smiling into his face, as though there were no one else in the room - as though there no one else in the world. 

Upon reflection, maybe it wasn't a surprise they hadn't noticed the music stop after all. And MacCready found the beer wasn't so much of a chore.


	5. Of Love and Tyrants

"Nora!" The way he elongated her name, Hancock sounded more like a stern father than anything else, but the settlers of Sanctuary had never heard him so much as raise his voice, except to attacking super mutants, and so looked up to watch anyway. Their general was walking angrily away from him, but he wasn't letting her put any distance between them.

"No!" she snapped.

" _Nora_!"

" _No_!"

Heads turned. Was this an argument? While many had wondered what exactly it was that their general saw in the comparatively ragged mayor...that and he was well...a _ghoul_ ; nobody could deny that the two were nothing but loving and affectionate towards each other, this brief exchange of stern words was positively nuclear for them. That said, there were a handful in the town who saw exactly what she saw in him and were now watching the drama unfold with more than a passing interest.

From one of the houses, Garvey came running out, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the air, "Uh General, we just got word from Oberland Station-"

Hancock cut him off, but his eyes never left Nora, "it's fine. We're going back to fix it, ain't we sweetheart?"

Nora was all but pouting. All she needed to do was fold her arms and she'd look like a stroppy teenager. Hancock wanted to laugh, but if he did he wouldn't have it in him to berate her and he'd be lost. He couldn't afford for that to happen.

"Did you disable Oberland's defenses?" Garvey asked, his eyes darting between the two of them, but neither of them were paying him any attention. Instead they seemed to be locked in a staring contest with each other.

"We are going back and we are going to fix it," Hancock said.

Nora broke first, dropping her eyes for a moment, "did you hear what she said, she-"

Hancock took half a step forward, closing the gap between them and placing his hands gently, but firmly, on her shoulders.

"Course I did, I was there. But you can't leave her like that for my sake."

"But she-"

With a heavy sigh, Hancock pressed his forehead against hers, "don't think I'm not touched. I am," the tenderness in his actions belied the edge in his voice, "but leaving her like that...that's something a tyrant would do, you feel me? And if that's the kinda thing you do for love...well...that's something I can't be a part of."

There was a long silence, one in which even the Commonwealth seemed to hold it's breath.

"She called you a filthy animal," Nora said, her voice sounding very small and very sad.

Hancock chuckled and pressed his lips, gently, to her forehead, "she's not wrong sweetheart, you know that better than most."

Nora smiled up at him, despite it all, but her eyes were shining, "fine," she said, eventually, "we'll go back."

Reaching up, Hancock brushed away a stray hair, "see? One less tyrant in the world already."

Nora laughed, but it didn't sound entirely like it came from the heart. Regardless she slipped her arm around Hancock's waist and allowed him to steer her away. The settlers who had stopped to watch drifted away, and Garvey watched them disappear over the horizon, wondering what exactly had just happened. 


	6. Medical Exam

The sun seemed unnaturally hot and a bead of sweat trickled down the nape of Danse's neck. He shifted where he stood; he felt stiff from standing in one place for so long. Just a few feet away Nora was saying goodbye to the ghoul, a ritual that was taking far, _far_ too much time and was completely unnecessary as far as Danse could see anyway.

Eventually there was a final kiss and Nora moved over to Danse, though he noted she held Hancock's hand until the last possible second, stretching their arms as though to prolong the contact. "Sorry about that," Nora blushed, realising as she reached him just how long he had been standing there.

Danse gave a non committal grunt and the two of them started the long trek to the airport. Thank God they hadn't called for a vertibird, he thought, it would have used up all it's fuel waiting. "I don't understand why you engage in such long winded rituals with that...that _thing_ ," he snapped, exasperated, unable to hold in his annoyance.

Nora was not offended, in fact she was surprised at how reasonable he was being, she _had_ kept him waiting a long time. "Oh Danse," she said, affecting an air of romance, "have you never been in love and not wanted to be parted?"

"I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not, but either way, stop. Now."

"Yeah you're probably right," Nora said, suddenly serious, and they resumed the journey.

\---

The Prydwen was remarkable, even before the war Nora hadn't seen anything so impressive and she told Danse as much, smiling when he evidently glowed with pride. She had as much admiration for the crew as she made her rounds, finishing her tour with the mandatory examination by Knight-Captain Cade. For a moment Danse wondered if he should place himself elsewhere, the medical exam was after all, rather personal. But Nora caught his eye and as though reading his mind gave a little laugh, "don't worry, you've been with me through most of it."

Given that Danse was one of the first people she met out of the vault, she wasn't wrong. And the questions were straight forward enough; no radiation, no diseases and then...

" _Have you ever had sexual relations with any species considered non-human_?"

For the first time Nora paused, "non-human?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

Danse sighed, "the ghoul counts."

Cade arched an eyebrow at Nora, "not feral I trust."

Nora smirked, "oh I wouldn't say..."

"Stop. Now." Danse snapped.

"Not feral, no," Nora said, "...except when he's had too much buffout..."

The sound of Danse's palm smacking his forehead was almost as amusing as Cade's expression.


	7. Dead Drop

There was a small crowd gathering in entrance way to Goodneighbor. Hancock stepped out of the Old State House, and couldn't fail to notice the half dozen gathered there, all staring upwards, most gesturing upwards and engaged in animated conversation with those around them.

"Hey Daisy, what's the word?" Hancock asked, finding the store keeper at the centre of the commotion.

"She's going to fall. There's no way she'll survive this," Daisy said, her eyes fixed in a distant point.

Hancock looked up, but couldn't see anything save for the ruin of the monorail which usually shadowed the town. "You guys start a party without me or something, the hell are you talking about?"

Daisy pointed harshly, "the new girl, Valentine's kid, the one you sent out Pickman way. She's going to fall." Hancock followed the line of her finger and flinched when he saw the shape of the woman negotiating her way down the buildings. The very tall buildings.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Hancock bit out, before he could stop himself. Daisy noticed, of course she did. Daisy noticed everything. There wasn't anything in it. Well not much anyway. Nicky Valentine's new partner had asked if Hancock had any work, and come back when the job was done. He'd found her at the Third Rail later that night raising a drink to her reward and praising the jazz. She'd been decent conversation given that she'd apparently been in an ice box until a couple of months ago. And Goodneighbor had been somewhat starved of good conversation lately...

She lost her footing and dropped past the ledge she was aiming for, righting herself on a lower one at the last minute; there was a collective intake of breath from the crowd.

"Fifty caps says she falls," one of the guys called.

"Sixty says she falls and survives," another called back.

"Survives, are you serious? Ain't no one going to survive that fall."

Hancock found himself increasingly uncomfortable at the discussion of the not so distant shape's imminent demise. Not least because if she did fall she'd make hell of a lot of a mess in his entry way.

"Hundred caps says she's gonna make it!" someone shouted excitedly. And it looked like they were right. She was moving with purpose, scanning for her next leap and measuring it with precision.

"There is a path," Hancock growled under his breath, but no one noticed. All eyes on the girl.

She made no sound when she lost her footing again, this time failing to regain it. On the ground nobody moved, struck dumb with the realisation that no, she was not gonna make it.

She landed feet first outside Daisy's store, surprisingly in one piece. For a moment she looked up and caught Hancock's eye. Nobody moved, but she gave a weak laugh, and then surged forward with a pained groan. Daisy and Hancock both rushed forward, as did one of the neighborhood watch. Hancock rolled her over, surprised to see that she was still breathing, "we're gonna need _a lot_ of stims..."

He moved her to the Old State House when the rain started, otherwise Hancock would have carried on injecting her with stims right there in the street. Valentine had shown up not long after she had, shaking his head when he saw her, "I told her there was a path."

"We got her Valentine," Daisy had said, kindly, "you go get yourself something to drink...or whatever it is you do."

"Yeah get out of this rain before you rust," Hancock had joked, hoisting the girl easily into his arms. She was so light it was a wonder she hadn't been matchwood when she hit the ground.

After the fourth stimpak her breathing levelled off and the bruises that were already forming around her legs were slowed. Hancock slipped off the armour she'd cobbled together, weighing the leg pieces in his hand. Well...that explained one thing. If she hadn't been wearing those no amount of stims would have saved her.

She woke up relatively quickly, staring up at the ceiling before pushing herself up on her elbows. Her eyes found Hancock and for a moment she looked confused, "Goodneighbor?"

"Nice of you to drop in."

She surprised him with a light laugh, "that was some fall, huh?"

"You know there was a path?"

"Yeah...but the buffout had other ideas..."

Hancock looked up, his curiosity piqued, "I didn't have you down for the buffout type..."

A small shrug, "well I'm usually more of a mentats gal myself, but Nick took them..." she looked up, suddenly alarmed, "you tell him any of this and..."

"Relax sweetheart, tattling ain't my style."

Surprisingly she did seem to breathe easier, dropping back on the cushions and taking a moment. Stretching her legs out tentatively, she breathed a sigh of relief, "man, how many stims did you use to patch me up?"

Hancock shrugged, "a few, your armour took the brunt. And the buffout probably did you a few favours."

She smiled at him, she smiled at him for a long time, before he cleared his throat and she realised what she was doing. "Suppose I better go find Nick," she said, standing up gingerly. She dropped a hefty bag of caps on the table, "for the stims. Thanks."

She'd almost made it to the door before he called, "hey," and slipped her a tin of mentats.

She grinned up at him, "see you 'round, mayor Hancock."

Hancock smirked, and found himself still smirking long after she'd actually left. He turned back into the room and caught Fahrenheit watching him with one eyebrow raised, but Hancock waved her away, "hey, get off my back."


End file.
